Analysis of the possibility of using single-frequency GNSS receivers for monitoring of the ionosphere

This paper is devoted to the investigation of the capabilities of single-frequency receivers for recording irregular events in the ionosphere. Research was conducted on the example of the following events: solar eclipse on 20 March 2015, powerful earthquakes in Chile on 27 February 2010 and in Japan on 11 March 2011, as well as the explosion of the Chelyabinsk meteoroid on 15 February 2016. Compared the total electron content between the satellite and the receiver for undisturbed days with the perturbation days for search of various deviations in the behavior of it. As a result, it was found that single-frequency receivers allow observing such effects as: smooth decrease, sharp break at the daily total electron content, as well as wave structures on the receiver-satellite path. The obtained results were compared with the data of twofrequency GNSS receivers, both with more accurate and widely proven for ionosphere diagnostics. The data of two-frequency diagnostics do not qualitatively differ from single-frequency diagnostics, however they are more accurate due to various algorithms of total electron content restoration. The main result of the work, in addition to the data of the ionosphere diagnostics, is the conclusion about the applicability of single-frequency receivers for ionosphere diagnostics.